One Wish
by Winged Lady Colette
Summary: Each Yeul has a wish. From when she's born to when she dies. Where she once wished for the happiness of others, she began to wish for her own happiness. The happiness that she would get from being with that certain someone. Rating may change. Yeul centric.
1. Yeul with the heart of gold

**Author's Note: Okay, so I have wanted to write a story for Final Fantasy 13 for practically forever. Now is my time to shine! Just kidding. :) Enjoy! Let me know what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the OCs.**

**Warnings: Death**

**Word Count: 3,010**

**Status: Incomplete**

She had a wish. Just one. One wish that she was born with. She wished for the safety and health of her people. She wished that they would all live long and prosperous lives. She wished for them salvation at the ends of their lives and peace within the chaos.

She was born with hair a dark silver and eyes the brightest jade.

Her birth was a mass celebration in the ancient- but at this point in it's life-new city of Paddra. A small child foretold with powers gifted by the goddess of Chaos, Etro. They deemed her a seeress, but didn't truly know what that entailed until five years after her birth. A small, five year old Yeul foretold of a forest fire tearing through the lands to the north, destroying miles of farmlands. In the years that followed, more and more visions let themselves be known. Visions of great tragedy and strife, and also great wonders.

The visions of the seeress became both feared and immortalized. Word of the power of the seeress traveled far and wide. People from all reaches of the world came to see this girl have visions of the future.

"Is there anything that you need, Seeress?" one of Yeul's many handmaidens asks, standing in the doorway to Yeul's bed chamber.

The young ten year old girl stares out over the darkening city. "No. I'm fine."

The handmaiden bows and leaves. Yeul stands there for a long time, a solemn look on her face until, she tilts her head to listen for any sounds of any of her handmaidens or guards coming to see her. When she's sure that they believe she has retired for the night, she walks over to her bed and pins her hair up, putting the veil over her mouth and slipping on her favorite yellow shoes.

She crawls out of the window and down the vines that crawl up the side of the castle. Months of practice honed her skills in escape. When Yeul gets t the ground, she pauses and listens to see if anyone has noticed that she was missing. No screams, no yells. No torches or mobs. They haven't noticed yet.

Yeul smiles to herself and sneaks into the city. It has fallen quiet as the occupants have mostly retired for the night. They have extinguished their lanterns at their doorsteps and closed the shutters to their homes. Keeping the warmth of the home in and the cold of the night out. Yeul's flesh mimics that of a goose's. She runs her hands up and down her arms to create friction.

Her heels clack against the stone street. Paddra is still just a small city that's surrounded by clusters of other cities. The greatest thing to have happened to Paddra was Yeul being born.

Time is still young. As is humanity. Yeul knows right off the bat that humanity is going to be around for a very long time.

Yeul wraps her arms around herself and walks toward the edge of the city and out into the open lands that surround Paddra. The city is still so small that one could easily walk from one side to the other in just under an hour. It's undergoing expansion since Yeul appeared. But Yeul ignores the skeletons of the new buildings to continue into the open lands. She makes a beeline for her favorite place in the world.

There was nothing extravagant or overly impressive by any means of the words. It's just a large collection of large rocks-boulders, if Yeul would dare. There was one that stretched upward, high into the sky, but in actuality it probably jutted upward about ten feet. Yeul takes her time in climbing all the way to the flat surface at the top, legs dangling over the side.

She tilts her head back and gazes at the stars, eyes lighting up in awe. Her face, normally composed and blank, shows it's true youth while staring up at the twinkling lights in the sky. Tomorrow was the night, she had foreseen a ball of light skirting across the sky. An impossibly large ball of fire that sailed through the small twinkling lights and disappeared beneath the horizon. Yeul had to hold herself back from trembling in excitement.

"I've seen you come out here every night for the past couple of weeks," a voice behind her says.

Yeul looks down to see a young boy looking up at her. "I'm sorry."

"No need," the boy says, climbing up the rocks. He almost falls once or twice before sitting next to the girl that quiet watched him all the while he did so. He plops down next to her and flashes her a pearly white toothed smile. He's a few years older than Yeul. "I'm Tobias. You?"

"I am Yeul," the young seeress says, her voice soft.

"Where do you come from?" Tobias asks, dangling his feet next to hers. Yeul can tell immediately that he's from a poorer family. His clothes are a little small on him and dirty. There is a hole in the pants on the left knee and one of the shoulders is ripped open. His skin is dirty too.

"Paddra."

Tobias glances at the small city. He jerks his chin towards it. "There?"

Yeul nods. "Yes. Where are you from?"

He points in front of them. "Nautini. My house at the edge there. See? It's the little hut."

Yeul looks toward where he's pointing. "The one with the caved in roof?" As soon as she said it, she regretted it. She forgets sometimes that she can be insensitive with her words. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to sound..." she trails off when Tobias lets out a laugh, seemingly not at all bothered by her words.

"Don't worry about it. It's not the most luxurious thing in the world, but it's home. I grew up in that house, I don't know any better, so it's cool." He flashes Yeul another bright smile.

She nods thoughtfully. "I see. What are you doing out here, Tobias?"

He looks over at her in the darkness, his eyes a dark brown. "I could ask you the same thing, Yeul. But as for myself, I came out to see the stars."

Yeul looks up at the lights. "Me too. There is no where good to really look up at them in Paddra."

"What about that big building on the other side?"

"The home of the Seeress?" Yeul asks.

He nods. "Can't you go onto the roof there?"

Yeul considers. "Perhaps, but the guards would find me up there in a bit and I wouldn't be able to see the stars to my hearts desire. They would certainly forbade me from going up there again."

Tobias nods slowly, Yeul gets the feeling that he doesn't quite understand. A sudden thought seem to occur to him, he turns to Yeul sharply. "Hey, you live in Paddra. I heard that there was a girl there called the Seeress. That big building is her home. People say she can see into the future, is it true?"

"The Seeress sees one form of the future," Yeul tells him.

"What do you mean?"

"Once the Seeress sees it and tells someone about it, steps can be taken to stop the event. Then the Seeress is giving a vision of the alternate future," Yeul says, looking at the dark haired boy next to her. His eyes are wide like saucers.

"Oh hey, did you hear about that band of thugs that go around stealing noble's hearts and selling them?"

Yeul shakes her head. She rarely hears about the outside world. The ruler thinks it's best that way. Best not to confuse her with so many places. She should only have the sight for Paddra.

"I hear that they sell them to rival nobles or something. Do you think the Seeress sees stuff like that?" Tobias asks.

Yeul shakes her head. "The Seeress has not seen something like that. But that doesn't mean anything. There are plenty of things that are not shown in a vision or could easily be missed."

Tobias practically bounces off his seat in excitement. "How do you know so much about the Seeress?"

Yeul's eyes lower slightly before going back up. "I am the Seeress."

Tobias looks at her for a long moment before he laughs, throwing his head back. The noise bounces off the darkened out buildings, before being swallowed by the darkness. Yeul just stares, perplexed.

Tobias chokes on his laugh when he realizes Yeul is just staring at him. "Are you serious?"

Yeul nods. "Yes. I was born with the eyes of the goddess Etro."

There is a long silence between them. Yeul moves to stand on the rock, overlooking the land. She looks at the darkness of the buildings, the tall grass. Even the monsters prowling around in the dark. It was nice, better in the day, but Yeul appreciates the silence that settles over the land and all the cities contrary to the day. But the light time is so beautiful and bright. Like the stars. Yeul really loved the stars.

"I should go. The guards will check on me soon, so I should get back."

"You... really are the Seeress...?" Tobias asks, standing too. His hand goes flying up to his throat. A beaded necklace is there. "But you look so normal."

Yeul nods. "Looks can be deceiving."

Tobias nods, making a face. "I guess they can. So... can I see you again, Seeress?"

Yeul looks up into his eyes, he's definitely taller and older than her. Probably by two or three years. Her eyes travel up to the stars above his head. "Most people can't just come and see the Seeress. But I will come back here again," she looks back into his eyes. "If you want to see me again and talk. I will come back."

Tobias smiles crookedly. "Promise?"

Yeul nods. "I can not lie."

"Another Seeress thing?"

Yeul shrugs. "All I know is that I don't. I am the first Seeress."

Tobias looks a bit awe struck. "Really? This is so cool. You're not just joking with me, are you? Are you positive that this isn't a trick?"

"No trick," Yeul says. "You may believe what you chose." With that, she makes her way down the layout of the rocks with deft precision. Tobias follows behind quietly, when they get to the bottom he looks at Yeul like he wants to say something. She considers whether she should ask him what he wants or just go. If it is important enough, he would ask.

Before she can make a decision, Tobias quietly asks, "Can you see certain things? Like what happened to people or something?"

Yeul pauses, staring at the older boy. "The visions come to me, I can not seek something out. I usually see something that affects the many over the few. Whoever the owner of the necklace that you've been touching for a while, I probably will see nothing that pertains to them."

Tobias visibly deflated. "I see."

Yeul turns and makes her way towards her home, pausing for a moment to look back over at Tobias. His head is down, the moon and stars casting a shadow across his face.

Hesitantly, Yeul turns back to Tobias. "I think that you should seek out your own answers instead of waiting for them to cross your path."

"I should do anything to get my answers?" Tobias asks, eyes downcast.

Yeul hesitates. "Anything you think you must."

"Anything I think I must," Tobias says to himself then smiles lightly this time. "Thank you, Seeress."

"Yeul," Yeul says, turning around to continue home. "It was the name I was born with. I want to be called it."

If Tobias had a response for that, Yeul didn't hear it. But that's okay. She didn't expect he would have an answer to that. She hasn't been alive very long but from the years that she has learned to read people. Is she wrong a lot? Yes, it's a process that she will have to learn better and even perfect. But that's what growing up is about.

Maturing.

Changing.

Finding one's self.

Following one's dreams.

Finding love.

Having a family.

Being happy.

Successful.

Achieved.

Yeul retraces her steps back into the city, through the quiet streets. Behind her house she can hear guards fighting off monsters. Yeul walks over to her window and climbs up the vines once more. It's definitely much harder going up then it is coming down. But Yeul makes the climb and when she gets to her room she's sweating and tired. She removes her hair clip and vail and goes straight to bed.

The next morning Yeul was informed by the ruler that two of the guards died the night prior. Yeul lit a candle for them at the service and prayed for them. She didn't know them but she was still sad about their deaths. People from all the towns surrounding came to the service, but only the people of Paddra were close enough to make out Yeul's features.

But Yeul's eyes were able to scan the crowd. She thought, maybe-just maybe, she would be able to catch a glimpse of Tobias, but if he was there he was too far away for her to see.

Yeul sits in the bath looking down at the murky water with a far away gaze. She taps her fingers against the surface in contemplation. She had to wonder if she was right in giving Tobias the advice that she did. She didn't really know the story behind the necklace. What if he got sick? Or hurt? What if something happened to him because of her advice?

Yeul chews on her bottom lip.

"I will be right back, Seeress," one of Yeul's many handmaidens says, bowing slightly before leaving the room. Yeul glances around the empty bathhouse for just a moment before returning to her thoughts.

Why was she the first ever Seeress? Why was she born with the gift to see the future? Did Yeul really believe in this Etro? A goddess of chaos. Yeul prayed to the goddess each and every day of her life, saw tragedy after tragedy. The timeline is constantly shifting and changing. Sometimes it's hard to tell whether or not she's doing any good with what she sees.

Every day of Yeul's life, for as long as she can remember, she has had visions of the future. Forest fires, bandit raids, flooding, so on and so forth. Then after they stop the events or best prepare for it, another vision comes to Yeul, the outcomes or other things that happen because of their actions. Sometimes they seem worse then the original, but it still offers the chance to correct the issue.

Yeul admires the water, it's a pretty purple color. Her favorite color. She runs her fingers gently over the surface, watching the water ripple across the large bath. A small smile crosses her face. It's the simple things in life that Yeul enjoyed the most.

Later that night, as for what has become routine for the young Seeress, she sneaks out of her room and through the sleeping city. Tonight was the night. She was going to see that ball of light. It's one thing to see flashes and images in her visions, but it's another to be able to see it in person. Yeul picks up her speed a bit and races to her special place. Tobias wasn't there but that didn't affect her good mood, she climbed up to the top and stared out over the stars.

Just as she had foreseen, the ball of light appeared and moved across the sky, far slower than in her vision but that only worked in her favor. Now Yeul could watch it in awe for longer. She unconsciously reaches up and touches the light fabric of her veil, eyes wide, excitement glimmering in those jade orbs. This is the best night of Yeul's life.

She wishes someone could have been beside her when she saw this. That thought made the edges of her lips tilt down a bit. But that isn't what Yeul wants to think about, she wants to admire the ball of light in the sky.

She blinks a few times to refocus her eyes. Her neck muscle get weak and her head falls back, eyes widening. This is the first time she's ever been alone while having a vision. The sign of the goddess Etro appear on her pupils and the vision flashes through her brain.

Screaming, crying. Just one person. They are being dragged down a corridor. By their hair. Her hair. Her dark gray hair. She's not strong enough to get the hand untangled from her long locks. There are people surrounding her. She's laying on a flat stone. Four people are holding her down. A man looks over her. He has a patch over his eye. A knife over her heart a single phrase.

"It will be worth it's weight in gold."

Yeul jolts out of the vision. She's laying strangely on the rock, the back of her head hurts from where it hit. There are dark spots in her vision. She can't move. She just had a vision.

It was of her death.

"So you must be the Seeress," a man says.

Trembling, Yeul slowly sits up. She looks down at the man below her rock. The first and only thing she noticed, was the eye patch over his left eye.


	2. Yeul with vision of unity

**Author's Note: So, just keep in mind, not all of these will end the same. Sometimes more then one chapter will be dedicated to a single Yeul. Don't worry, eventually her special boys will appear! :D Please enjoy! Let me know what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but the OCs.**

**Warnings: Death and dark thoughts.**

**Word Count: 3,095**

**Status: Incomplete**

After the death dissapearence of Yeul, many feared that Paddra would fall into ruin. But before the entirety of the Paddrin people and it's government could collapse beneath complete anarchy a little baby girl was born. This girl was born with dark gray hair and big dark green eyes. An exact replica of Yeul. Grasping at straws, the ruler announced that Etro had re-granted life to the formally deceased, Seeress Yeul.

And thus, Yeul was reborn.

Little did they know at the time, that while they were saying that this little girl was the Goddess Etro's Seeress, they had no solid proof to show that this little girl would still have the abilities of the Seeress. Until the little girl, unnamed and only five, was asked by one of the many handmaidens over and over "Who are you?"

For the longest time the little girl would babble or look on blankly. But one time, they got a reaction.

"I am..." the young girl rubs her face. A somber look crossing her features. "I am... Yeul."

That was proof enough for the Ruler. She was the Seeress reborn. But even that wasn't true. She was the Seeress.

"So it's you, Seeress! You have been reborn," the handmaiden says softly, eyes wide and hopeful.

The little girl shakes her head slowly. "I am... not the Yeul that you once knew." Her voice a complete match to that of the Yeul before hers.

Confused, the handmaiden asks, "What do you mean?"

"I am not the Yeul that you once knew. I am a new Yeul born after the death of an old Yeul," she says softly, eyes down cast. Eleven extra years added to the eyes of a five year old girl. There was wisdom there, and much sadness. "I hold the memory of the Yeul before me, but I assure you, I am not her."

The handmaiden shook her head, long dark hair falling around her shoulders. "I do not understand, Seeress. You are Yeul? But you are not?"

Yeul nods. "I hold her memory... but not her love for the sky. Specifically, her love for the night sky."

That was the truth, but no many understood it. She told it to all that knew the Yeul before her but eventually she stopped, because they couldn't understand. At night, Yeul would wake the house with her screams, recalling her previous life's death over and over and over again. But the visions appeared. She was still the Seeress and was still blessed, or cursed, by Etro.

Yeul didn't leave at night. What she told the handmaiden was true, she had no desire to leave the house at night. She didn't care about the stars in the sky. In fact, most would say she strayed from the dark. She kept candles burning throughout the night to help her with her nightmares-which it didn't really do, but she was persistent. No matter how old she got, she always wanted to be surrounded by people and away from the dark.

By no means was Yeul any sort of social butterfly. She kept to herself and watched as the world went on around her. More often then not she would go weeks without saying anything, other then relaying what she sees in her visions or her screams at night. No matter how many times people ask her what happened to her, and by her they mean the old Yeul. The young girl would be pulled back to her final moments, passing by agonizingly slow in comparison to her vision. The fear, the horror. She couldn't control it.

Yeul is depressed all the time, she keeps to herself all the time. She doesn't get up in the morning as early as the old Yeul did. She would sleep a lot more and not go outside much. She would perform services as the old Yeul did, but she wouldn't be able to smile softly at the crowd or do as many. Needless to say there was many guards put around Yeul at all times. They may not truly know what happened to her, but at least they know enough not to let her be alone again.

"Seeress," one of the many guards at Yeul's door peaks in at the young girl. Yeul lays quietly on her bed, eyes half lidded, staring off into space. She's 13 years old and is seeing the future more then the last Yeul and something has occurred to her. Every time she has a vision, it gets harder and harder for her to come back. To find herself again. It's getting impossibly hard for her to gather up the tiny threads of her sanity after every vision.

"Yes...?" Yeul says softly, trying to lift her head but she just doesn't have the energy anymore.

"You have been requested to the king's court, Seeress."

It takes more energy then it needed to for Yeul to pull herself to her feet. She runs her fingers through her hair a few times trying to smooth out the wild locks. Once she's got it somewhat under control, she pins it up and hides behind her vale. She runs her hands up and down her arms, trying to calm her goose flesh. Yeul just can't seem to shake this feeling of lethargy.

"Are you ready, Seeress?" One of the other guards asks, opening the door.

Yeul drops her hands and nods, walking slowly, but purposefully, to the door. She still has to show people that she is capable of performing her every day duties. A point to make face, so people don't worry. Mostly only her guards, handmaidens and the ruler know of the stark difference between the two Yeuls. Two guards follow Yeul down the hall at her flanks.

The ruler was a man in his late twenties, early thirties. His family has ruled over Paddra for as long as time can remember. The Yeul before her often thought that he was a bit of a snotty brat. He had much power, even at a young age. He wasn't a whole lot older then the previous Yeul. But now, he stands an adult before this Yeul, staring her down with dark narrow eyes and lips pulled tight into a closed mouth smile.

"Welcome, Seeress. It has been a long time since you left your chambers."

Yeul stares blankly at the observation, not all that sure if she should comment on it or not. She opts for not. What good would it do to possibly rile the ruler and bring upon his childish rage to the innocent people of Paddra. No matter how she feels about the rest of the world-which is virtually nothing- she cares deeply about Paddra and prays every day that this selfish ruler doesn't lead it to ruin.

"How are you doing?" The ruler, Conilis, asks smoothly, eyes half lidded.

"Fine," Yeul says softly.

There is a moment of silence, both waiting for the other to speak but neither do. The guards in the room shift slightly in the tensing atmosphere. He gives her a look like he doesn't want to offer up the information, but wishes to be asked.

Finally, Yeul asks, "Is there something you needed from me?"

"Yes," the ruler says, pleased that Yeul asked. Yeul suspects that this is some form of dominance. Like if he offered up the information, it would mean the Yeul had some kind of imaginary advantage over him. She didn't really understand, but she was too tired to fight his wacked out logic.

"May I know what it is?" Yeul asks, struggling to keep her posture straight.

"Yes," Conilis purrs, standing from his throne and waltzing around, hand waving around as he spoke. "I want you to go on a trip."

This news shocks Yeul. "Where to?"

Conilis smiles at Yeul, looking down at her condescendingly from his perch. "Not far, just around to the other towns around Paddra. Show them the power of the Seeress. Bring a bit of faith into their lives. Give them a bit of incentive."

He was trying to hint at something but Yeul didn't understand. "For what?"

The condescending look sharpens slightly, aggravation peaking over the corners of his false face. "To unite with Paddra."

Yeul murmurs the words under her breath, trying to understand them. "Unite Paddra for what?"

Now Conilis looks completely annoyed, like he was dealing with an imbecile. "Seeress, we want to... _encourage _the other cities to swear allegiance to Paddra, and eventually to create a large and bustling city." His arms swoosh out wide, eyes far away as if he could see it now. His voice growing more and more passionate. "The towns will then bow between one Goddess, Etro, and her last descending human bloodline!"

Yeul stares, eyes wide. A million thoughts ran through her head. He just wants to have more power. It was plain and simple like that. A true ruler should want to expand to benefit the people, not themselves. Anger twisted in her gut like a cobra. Between gritted teeth, she asks, "Is this the will of Paddra?"

Conilis pauses, as if shocked by her words. He turns to her with steely eyes. "Yes."

Yeul nods, bowing stiffly, before turning away. "Then I shall obey."

The young Seeress obediently prepared her things, unsure of what this adventure would bring about, but sure that Conilis is the only one that is going to get the better side of all of this. It's not that he was a bad ruler. Yeul knew that he was a smart one, and the people of Paddra have had lots of good come from him being ruler, but just because he's a smart ruler doesn't mean he's a good one.

And Yeul distinctly remembers in her past life being unable to really leave Paddra to go the handful of yards away to see anything that the other little towns had to offer. The ruler didn't want her to get her mind filled of places that weren't Paddra. That didn't stop her from having random visions of places that she has never seen before.

The first town she visited was deemed Chijeet. The opposite side of the cluster of towns then that boy from Yeul's pasted life. Tobias. Yeul showed up before nightfall, which suited her fine. She was tired anyway. Her and her ten guards. She thinks that it was a bit overkill to sent so many initially, but then her mind traveled back to the men that ended her first life. "Band of thugs," Tobias had called them. It didn't matter though, they wouldn't be able to get her this time. She was safe with these guards.

Outside the window of the inn that Yeul and her guards were staying the night, Yeul can see the rock her past self used to frequently visit. The huge boulder casting a black shadow over the field lit by the full moon. What her past self saw as the most beautiful thing in the world, or at least a way to see it clearly, this Yeul sees it as a terrible reminder of what disobedience will lead to. What naïveté will do to the weak. Even in her last moments, the past Yeul did not regret seeing that ball of light in the sky. In her mind's eye, that was the last thing she saw before her heart was carved from her chest.

Yeul cringes, a pain in her chest. It happens sometimes. She accidently immerses herself in her past life and she begins to feel everything that her past life did in those moments. And her past life's final moments weren't something she wanted to live through.

The tiny smile from the past Yeul's affection for the boulder now twists into a nasty frown. Why should she be happy? How _could_ she be happy? That Yeul is dead and she leaves her last horrible moments on this Yeul's soul like spiders crawling across her body. It's always there, a constant itch that she can't seem to get. It keeps her up at night and scares her to not end. Like it's crawling beneath her skin, no one can help her get it either.

She can hear her guards rustling behind her. Sardonically, she thinks to herself that they can try and protect her from human or monster, whichever should attempt to threaten her life, but they can't stop the thing that is truly killing her. The memories of the past Yeul.

"Seeress," one of the guards calls her attention, coming to stand next to her. "Is there something out there?"

Yeul closes her eyes for a long moment, trying to quench these dark thoughts. She can feel them drenching her soul with their taint and it leaves her feeling uneasy. She feels the shadow of the past Yeul hanging precariously overhead. She can see the previous Yeul's death again and again behind her eyelids, pulsating along with her heart, straining the powerful muscles that keep it beating, until it tires and grows weak and slows. Slows more and more.

"Seeress?" The guard asks.

Bugs chirp and sing outside loudly, drawing Yeul back more than the guard's hesitant voice.

She opens her eyes. "Yes, there is."

He tenses. "What is it?" The shuffling behind him as ceased. The guards are preparing for a fight if they must. The sentiment alone cleans away a bit of the darkness around Yeul's heart.

Longingly, and if possible, a little brokenly, Yeul says, "the memories of a dead girl."

* * *

Each day Yeul would go and preach before the people of the Goddess Etro and how her divine will is cast upon the people. She refused to follow the ruler's order and say that she merely smiled upon Paddra. That wasn't true. There was more that Etro loved besides Paddra. She could see before her eyes the people be enchanted by her. It's one thing to hear of her, but another to actually see her and talk to her in person.

Even though Yeul was only yards away at most times from Paddra, she still missed it dearly. This is the first time in this lifetime that she has ever been away from Paddra. She can't sleep at night in the unfamiliar beds and the strange sounds of the town. She wants to stare longingly at Paddra from one of the many inns that she stays at, but the rock is always the first thing she notices. It taunts her in the darkness, a constant reminder of what happened to the past Yeul. Forcing Yeul to turn away from Paddra and the haunting rock.

After each of Yeul's services, an advisor under the orders of the ruler, would tell of a wonderful life being one with Paddra and the people couldn't agree more. Yeul was quite the spectacle. People would show up hours earlier to her sermons just to have good seats. More and more, news of the lands considering forging alliances with Paddra would appear in conversation and eventually, it was all people could talk about.

"The will of the Goddess Etro is not spared for just those that believe in her, but to all of the people in the world," Yeul says robotically. "We are all Etro's children and are all loved by her equally." These words are like words on parchment. Stiff and straight forward. There is no emotion that can be plucked from these words. Before Yeul can continue to give her overly rehearsed speech-one that she has had to give ten or eleven times now to other towns- she felt the muscles in her neck relax and her head tilt back.

Etro was giving Yeul yet another vision.

People smiling, laughing. Children running around in the streets. Buildings being constructed. Paddra expanding. People flocking to the House of the Seeress. Singing praises. The ruler standing at his throne, people cheer and wave. A girl stands before them. The Seeress. People cheer louder. People bow, cast looks at an older Conilis. They aren't impressed by him. They are by her.

Yeul jolts out of the vision, warmth and happiness flooding her chest. People are deadly silent, all staring at the collapsed Seeress. The advisor holds Yeul in his arms, waiting patiently for her to leave the vision. He has had years of practice. He takes it in stride. At least this time, Yeul isn't alone.

The corners of Yeul's eyes are being overcome with darkness. Her vision tunneling. Yeul can feel the corners of her mouth turned up slightly. For once, she wasn't just tired and lethargic, she was peaceful. This is the first time in a long time that Yeul has been in a long time. Her heart pulsates loudly in her ears and it takes her too long to notice that it's slowing down.

Unknowing of Yeul's predicament, the advisor asks, "What did your vision show you, Seeress?"

A content smile crosses Yeul's lips. She looks unseeing at the nearing night sky, wondering vaguely if this was just a coincidence, or the will of Etro. To die at night like the Yeul before her did. But she was happy. Paddra would be at peace. Even if Conilis' plan wasn't entirely pure, ultimately it would lead to a powerful and prosperous unity between all of the towns under a Paddran banner.

"Seeress?" the advisor asks again, softer this time, as if afraid that if he spoke too loudly Yeul would break.

"The unity of Paddra and the people of the other... towns... the people are..." Yeul smiles breathlessly, eyes drooping closed as her heart slows down, "happy." Yeul's body goes limp in the older man's arms. It took a minute or two before the advisor realized that the girl in his arms was no longer alive, but before he could start to panic-or even react at all in that case- her body turned into billions of tiny colorful orbs of light. Her body disappearing into nothing, with a look of peace and a gentle smile etched onto her face.


End file.
